Underrated Games - The Shield The Game - PlayStation 2
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00:00 Intro
0145: What's This Game About?
02:34 Good Things # 1 - Top Notch Voice Acting
03:08 Clip # 1 - Hilarious One Liners
04:14 Good Things # 2 - Violence Solves Everything
04:56 Clip # 2 - Giving The Swirly
05:35 Good Things # 3 - Head Shot Mania
06:09 Clip # 3 - Don't Peak
07:31 Critics Hate # 1 - Poor Team Mate AI
08:09 Clip # 4 - Shane is a SOB
09:10 Critics Hate #2 - Questionable Morality System
09:51 Clip #5 - Heat System Explained
10:47 Critics Hate # 3 - Not As Good As the TV Show
11:28 Clip # 6 - As Long As It Doesn't Have Nuts
12:15 Did I Beat This Game?
12:36 Three Different Endings
13:51 Outro
The third person shooter that was almost stuck in developmental hell finally made it's way into the video game store bargain bins but critics wish it hadn't. Does it completely suck or is it maybe worth checking out? Is it a 2 / 10 like IGN says.? Or... is it UNDER RATED?
Forget about reading criminals their Miranda rights because LAPD's newest division, The Strike Team, is on the scene to hand out justice using the most brutally extreme methods possible. Take on the role of Vic Mackey, a corrupt police officer, who plays by his own set of rules. Fast forward three years and your squad has seen hell and back and the team is on the verge of breaking up for good. Only one thing can keep it together - score a huge bust by taking down two rival street gangs by any means necessary.
Emmy Award Winner, Michael Chiklis and most of the cast of the TV show return to provide excellent voice overs for the game. The voiceovers aren't the only excellent area in sound as I found the soundtrack to be extremely underrated. It's composed by Rik Schaffer who is best known for his work on Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines. I love cheesy one liners like Arnold, Sly, and Bruce Willis used to deliver back in the day. This game is full of them and they are hilariously awesome.
Playing as a dirty cop can be quite a blast and this game teaches you that violence is the answer to all problems. If you enjoyed similar titles like the Punisher and NARC, you'll feel right at home here as you beat criminals to death in spectacular fashion. Sure you could arrest them if you want, but this game rewards you for letting your inner demons out. There is a lot of fun to be had by using questionable methods to get results. Some examples include but are not limited to: melting peoples faces off on hot stoves, vandalizing stores with baseball bats, and flushing gang members heads down dirty toilets.
Your going to have to search every area carefully because Ammo is scarce in this game especially in the early levels. While most critics found the search mechanic mini game to be laughably bad, sometimes simple can be good. Shooting haphazardly and wasting all your bullets is a major no no since bringing a pair of fists to a gun fight usually results in game over. I quickly learned that going for headshots is the way the to go and well what do you know... shooting people in the head turns out to be very fun indeed.
While the members of the experimental Strike Team may be elite in the TV Show, in the game they are more likely to get you killed. Your squad partners will frequently charge into gun fights with reckless abandon and it's up to you to make sure they don't wind up in body bags. It won't be easy since both you and your team mates die after taking only a handful of bullets. It's time to get good quick and even change up your tactics to more aggressive. While this can be a major source of frustration, I thought it actually made the shootouts much more intense.
A police badge in the upper left hand corner lets you know how much notoriety or heat you've gained from indulging in criminal activities. You can lower the heat meter by arresting bad guys, turning in evidence at the police station, or even planting evidence at crime scenes. Arresting one criminal will lower your heat meter by a whopping 50%, but killing one criminal will only raise your heat meter by a small amount. Many critics didn't like this imbalanced system and complained there was not enough rewards for doing things by the book.
The Shield is one of the best law enforcement dramas and the pilot might just be one of the most shocking in television history. I can't recommend checking it out enough and if you haven't you will most likely be lost and confused in the game since it takes place between season three and four of the hit tv show. This is one of those games where reading the manual is really helpful. It provides some much needed character details, plot synopsis, and also explains the combo system which is never mentioned during gameplay. While it's true that the game never reaches the lofty heights of the tv show, there is still plenty of fun to be had.